What I've learned- 1 year abroad
What is it like living abroad? I'm sure you can find millions of blogs on this exact same topic, but a little over one year in Europe mainly Ireland, here's my take on it.
Prepare to be misunderstood- English is widely spoken throughout Ireland…which means it should be easy for me to understand and be understood right? Wrong. Thankfully most people do understand me on a basic level, but the small idiosyncrasies in speech that vary from one english speaking country to another can be confusing. I have never heard of some of the sayings they have here, and as such, cannot understand them. There are some basic words they use differently here for example, "please call in", makes me think please call us on the phone, when in reality it means, please stop by in person. Another thing I find interesting is that people comment on my "accent", that's a new experience!
Prepare to be lonely - There have been many days when I "just want to go home". From little frustrations to just missing your family, its easy to be lonely when you are somewhere new and no one knows you. It takes time to meet people and develop some social network in your community.
Prepare to get out of your comfort zone- many people say that the times of the most personal growth occur when we are pushed beyond the boundaries of our comfort zones. I whole-heartedly agree with this. I think that our "logical brains" get in the way of us doing many things, leading to fear, anxiety, and stress. I'm learning to stop trying to control situations and let things happen, opening the door for continued change and metamorphosis.
Prepare to not know how to do basic things- It is a different country, so naturally things work differently here. Example: getting internet set up, was a 4 week process! I kid you not! In the US if your internet is not set up in a week, that company would likely go bankrupt! It takes times to get to know how the local ecosystem works!
Prepare for a difficult time meeting locals- Outside of school and work, two places that encourage close relationships, it is difficult to meet people. So joining local clubs/groups is one of the best ways in my mind. Even so, if you are anything like me, it takes me a while to warm up to people, so having patience with developing deeper friendships is needed.
Prepare for family and friends to not understand- For me, it seems as though a lot of the "friends" I had before I moved, have somehow disappeared into an unknown place. Luckily for me, I do have a few people that have stood by me through this. I think it is hard for some people to understand why I would choose to move so far away from everything, everything that was comfortable for me, everything I knew. For me, its about personal growth, its about not having regrets later, its about not sacrificing what I really want for the sake of someone else's feelings.
Prepared to be amazed by some of the genius things they do differently- Some things shock me in a bad way over here, but there are a lot of things that are completely genius about the way they live and do things! Why for instance, do people in America keep building wooden houses, especially in areas with severe weather, such as hurricanes and tornadoes? All the building here are made of stone, thus many have survived hundreds of years without having to be replaced!
Overall, I think continually stepping out of my comfort zone is the most important thing for me to do, in order to achieve continual personal growth, no matter how much coercing it takes to get me out! I have learned so much about myself through this experience, things I would never have known about that need changing had I decided to stay at home, to stay in my comfort zone.
Until next time…never stop improving yourself…A
Prepare to be misunderstood- English is widely spoken throughout Ireland…which means it should be easy for me to understand and be understood right? Wrong. Thankfully most people do understand me on a basic level, but the small idiosyncrasies in speech that vary from one english speaking country to another can be confusing. I have never heard of some of the sayings they have here, and as such, cannot understand them. There are some basic words they use differently here for example, "please call in", makes me think please call us on the phone, when in reality it means, please stop by in person. Another thing I find interesting is that people comment on my "accent", that's a new experience!
Prepare to be lonely - There have been many days when I "just want to go home". From little frustrations to just missing your family, its easy to be lonely when you are somewhere new and no one knows you. It takes time to meet people and develop some social network in your community.
Prepare to get out of your comfort zone- many people say that the times of the most personal growth occur when we are pushed beyond the boundaries of our comfort zones. I whole-heartedly agree with this. I think that our "logical brains" get in the way of us doing many things, leading to fear, anxiety, and stress. I'm learning to stop trying to control situations and let things happen, opening the door for continued change and metamorphosis.
Prepare to not know how to do basic things- It is a different country, so naturally things work differently here. Example: getting internet set up, was a 4 week process! I kid you not! In the US if your internet is not set up in a week, that company would likely go bankrupt! It takes times to get to know how the local ecosystem works!
Prepare for a difficult time meeting locals- Outside of school and work, two places that encourage close relationships, it is difficult to meet people. So joining local clubs/groups is one of the best ways in my mind. Even so, if you are anything like me, it takes me a while to warm up to people, so having patience with developing deeper friendships is needed.
Prepare for family and friends to not understand- For me, it seems as though a lot of the "friends" I had before I moved, have somehow disappeared into an unknown place. Luckily for me, I do have a few people that have stood by me through this. I think it is hard for some people to understand why I would choose to move so far away from everything, everything that was comfortable for me, everything I knew. For me, its about personal growth, its about not having regrets later, its about not sacrificing what I really want for the sake of someone else's feelings.
Prepared to be amazed by some of the genius things they do differently- Some things shock me in a bad way over here, but there are a lot of things that are completely genius about the way they live and do things! Why for instance, do people in America keep building wooden houses, especially in areas with severe weather, such as hurricanes and tornadoes? All the building here are made of stone, thus many have survived hundreds of years without having to be replaced!
Overall, I think continually stepping out of my comfort zone is the most important thing for me to do, in order to achieve continual personal growth, no matter how much coercing it takes to get me out! I have learned so much about myself through this experience, things I would never have known about that need changing had I decided to stay at home, to stay in my comfort zone.
Until next time…never stop improving yourself…A
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